At West Wireless, where the mission is to identify technological solutions that dramatically lower the cost of healthcare, Smith is pushing for a future in which today's chronic disease care illness will be tracked, perhaps even diagnosed and prevented, far more efficiently by wireless sensors in the home, on the skin or in the body, woven into clothing or built into appliances. [Read more]

Over the past four years, Horgan, with his surgical team at the University of California San Diego Health System, Santiago Horgan, MD, has performed 80 surgeries that use the body's natural openings—the vagina or the mouth—to remove organs and tissue. The surgical team is well its way to proving it can reduce operating time and the risk of infection, lower the need for anesthesia, minimize pain, and lessen or eliminate scarring, hasten patients' recovery and reduce complications better than with traditional laparoscopic approaches, he says. [Read more]

Psychiatrist, Research Director, Naval Medical Center San Diego U.S. Navy Reserve Commander Robert Neil McLay's field of expertise involves post traumatic stress disorder and the effects of combat-induced stress on the brain. He is a pioneer in the use of computer-based virtual reality simulators for treating PTSD. His treatment regimens, which include traditional therapy and consultation, have enjoyed success rates of up to 75%, even for patients with a history of treatment resistance. [Read more]

Petitti is a strong proponent that the healthcare industry needs to constantly reevaluate its practices and treatments in light of new evidence. But changing the status quo is often easier said than done, she has learned firsthand.[Read more]

When asked where he sees himself in 10 years, Fisher commonly hailed as the father of accountable care organizations, is self effacing. "I might be in hiding because ACOs failed," he jokes. [Read more]

Watchdog organizations don't always have the best relationships with those they are watching. When asked to describe her relationship with healthcare providers and leaders, Leah Binder, CEO of The Leapfrog Group, deadpans the answer. "Some of my best friends are in hospitals," she says. She pauses and then laughs. "I promise," she says. "Some of them don't like me but I will tell you that some of them do."[Read more]

Athletes with millions of dollars resting on the outcome of their surgeries trust him, and have for a couple of decades now. And though he made his money and fame in surgery, in recent years, and as the end of his career approaches, Andrews is spending an awful lot of time, money, and effort on prevention.[Read more]

Mike DeTolla, senior vice president of revenue management solutions for Picis LYNX Medical Systems in Bellview, Washington discusses the importance of charge capture for the process of reimbursement on oncology infusions and injections. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

Significant IRS tax changes are underway that could soon impact hospitals' nonprofit status. Milton Cerny, formerly with National Office of the IRS and now counsel with McGuireWoods LLP in Washington, D.C., has extensive experience in the application of the federal tax code to nonprofit organizations. He discusses what new regulations could mean for hospitals. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

Diane E. Meier, MD, Director, Center to Advance Palliative Care, Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, explains her role during the past 10 years as running a political campaign to convey the value of palliative care to various audiences, including C-suite executives, physicians, nurses, patients, families, policy makers, and philanthropists.

Kimberly Anderwood Hoy, director of Medicare and Compliance for HCPro, Inc. answers questions about recovery audit contractor issues. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

For trauma surgeon John Brebbia, MD, volunteer work in Haiti after the Jan. 12 earthquake was inspired by the memory of a fallen colleague, as much as it was by the knowledge that the practical expertise and care he could provide was desperately needed in the stricken island nation. [Sponsored by McKesson]

As head of a think tank that searches for private sector alternatives to government programs that are not working, Goodman is in his element when causing a stir. Whether it's being at odds with the White House or Democrats or Republicans in Congress, Goodman takes special delight in taking jabs at health policy makers. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

For decades, there was a dirty little secret in healthcare. Everyone knew it existed, but no one wanted to talk about it. The secret was that bad behavior and bullying were rampant. In a supposedly caring profession, some caregivers were not caring at all, to the point that they made lives miserable and disrupted patient care. Kathleen Bartholomew's strong voice shone a light on the problem. She has made it her life's work to end bullying and bad behavior by physicians and nurses. [Sponsored by McKesson]

For decades, there was a dirty little secret in healthcare. Everyone knew it existed, but no one wanted to talk about it. The secret was that bad behavior and bullying were rampant. In a supposedly caring profession, some caregivers were not caring at all, to the point that they made lives miserable and disrupted patient care. Kathleen Bartholomew's strong voice shone a light on the problem. She has made it her life's work to end bullying and bad behavior by physicians and nurses. [Sponsored by McKesson]

To find a working, bipartisan, political system that focuses on practical results within budgetary constraints, leave the Beltway and look to the states. In striking contrast to Congress, Vermont provides a great example of what Republicans and Democrats can achieve in healthcare when they agree upon a common goal. And perhaps no one better embodies that bipartisan spirit in the Green Mountain State than long-serving Republican Gov. Jim Douglas. [Sponsored by McKesson]

Karen Bowden, president of ClaimTrust Consulting Services, a Tennessee-based in-hospital revenue cycle consulting firm discusses how RAC views "wrong setting" denials, and how you can prevent problems for your hospital. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

Listen to a conversation with Kerry Shannon, senior managing director with FTI Healthcare, about changing board constructs in healthcare. She contends that many healthcare boards need to re-engineer themselves not only so that they understand their fiduciary responsibility, but also so that they increasingly take on responsibility for the strategic direction and parameters of the organization. She has some fascinating ideas on how that might be done without intruding on management’s turf. [Sponsored by FTI Healthcare]
 

Michael Dowling, CEO of North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, has set a 10-year goal for his organization to be in the top metric in terms of quality, patient safety, patient satisfaction, and care coordination. "You want to be in a situation that when people come to North Shore they get the full complement of services, easily coordinated, with total transparency and communication. Where people leave at the end of the day and say, 'That was a great experience,'" he says. Here, he talks about how the organization is putting patient care at the center of everything they do. [Sponsored by Medseek]

Listen to Philip Betbeze, HealthLeaders Media's senior leadership editor, talk with Deborah Roy of FTI Healthcare about the key variable in the success of any supply chain intiative: getting clinician cooperation. [Sponsored by FTI Healthcare]

Listen to HealthLeaders Media's Philip Betbeze's conversation with Paul Hanson, president and CEO of North Country Health Services in Minnesota, about the smaller system's recent decision to merge with South Dakota's Sanford Health. It's a fascinating discussion about a trend—consolidation—that's slowly picking up steam. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

Tony West left a thriving private law practice to return to the Department of Justice as a political appointee when President Obama took office in 2009. Over the last year and half, the department has recovered more than $4 billion lost to healthcare fraud. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

For 31 years, David B. Nichols, MD, commuted once a week to Tangier Island, VA, piloting his own plane or helicopter. The 15-minute flight over the Chesapeake took Nichols to an area where the residents have triple the rate of disease he had seen any place else. In one of his final interviews, Nichols looked back on his legacy as a primary care leader.[Sponsored by McKesson]

In our annual HealthLeaders 20, we profile individuals who are changing healthcare for the better. Some are longtime industry fixtures; others would clearly be considered outsiders. Some are revered; others would not win many popularity contests. All of them are playing a crucial role in making the healthcare industry better. This is Ellen Makar's story.

The healthcare system is on the cusp of accepting the positive influence of patient experience on quality, says Steve Ronstrom, president and CEO of Hospital Sisters Health System Division and CEO of Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, WI. In a recent interview, the lead advisor for the HealthLeaders Media Intelligence Report, Patient Experience: Help Wanted, explains how basics such as infrastructure and technology combined with the people skills of empathy and caring can improve outcomes. [Sponsored by Medseek]

Brenda Snow, Executive Vice President of Strategic Planning at Firstsource, a global business process outsourcing provider of revenue cycle management services, discusses how the Medical Loss Ratio will impact the healthcare industry. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

A recent Department of Justice lawsuit threatens the "most favored nation" clauses common to many insurer contracts with healthcare providers. Attorney Dale Grimes of Bass, Berry & Sims discusses the potential upheaval associated with this contracting mainstay. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

Tom Hughes, President and CEO of the Georgia-based Medical Electronic Attachment, Inc. discusses how the HIPAA HL7 and 275 standards will benefit payers and providers. The standards, designed to facilitate the electronic exchange of patient data, are expected to be finalized in the coming months. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

Paul Keckley, executive director of Deloitte's Center for Health Solutions, discusses the physician’s role in the accountable care organization. Keckley shares his thoughts about this rapidly evolving team-based system of care with the PC physician at its center, and the important role technology will play. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

A. Brent Eastman, MD, chairman of the American College of Surgeons Board of Regents advocates for the creation of a trauma system where sick and injured patients would be moved systematically from small and rural hospitals to regional trauma centers as soon as it was safe to move them. [Sponsored by McKesson]

We've shared the importance of clinical documentation for many years at HealthLeaders Media. But there's another side to it—coding integrity. Listen to my interview with Marion Kruse, a director with FTI Healthcare, about that long-neglected piece of the reimbursement puzzle.[Sponsored by FTI Healthcare]

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, speaks about the importance of electronic health record systems to America's public health and whether consumers are ready to access and share electronic health data with their providers through EHRs, patient portals, or health information exchanges. "People have real concerns, and that's where government comes in to protect that information," she says, in an exclusive interview with HealthLeaders Media during the American Health Information Management Association's annual conference in Orlando last week. [Sponsored by McKesson]

Authors of the book, The Hospital Executive's Guide to Emergency Department Management, Kirk Jensen, MD, MBA and Daniel Kirkpatrick from BestPractices, an emergency medicine leadership and staffing practice in Fairfax, Va., discuss strategies hospitals can use to better monitor and manage patient arrivals in the emergency department. [Sponsored by McKesson]

Bruce McPherson, CEO of the Alliance for Advancing Nonprofit Healthcare discusses tax exemptions for nonprofit hospitals and health facilities in light of healthcare reform legislation. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

Listen to MedAssets' Performance Analytics President Stephanie Alexander about the challenges and possible solutions for hospitals and health systems in developing accountable care organizations. [Sponsored by Emdeon]

Neal Peyser, Managing Director FTI Healthcare discusses the creation of payment incentives for better collaboration between hospitals and their medical staff. He describes how one facility was able to tap incentive payments from a commercial payer that were based on meeting quality and efficiency metrics, and share them with physicians. [Sponsored by FTI Healthcare]

Mark Laney, CEO of Heartland Health in St. Joseph, MO, discusses changing priorities among healthcare CEOs.

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger talks about the current health reform plans and what they would mean to health insurers. [Sponsored by Emdeon]